Shiftable gear mounting



April 29, 1952 Filed 001;. 4, 1946 R. R. BURKHALTER 2,595,209

SHIFTABLE GEAR MOUNTING 2 SHEETSSHEET l INVENTOR.

Ap 29, 1952 R. R. BURKHALTER 2,595,209

SHIF'TABLE GEAR MOUNTING Filed Oct. 4, 1946 2 SHEETSSHEET 2 INVENTOR.

Patentecl-Apr. 29, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT SHIFTABLE GEAR MOUNTING 1 Robert a; Burkhalter, Toledo, Ohio application October 14'; 1946, Serial No. 701,114"

' 2 Claims.

This inyention relates to shiftable gears, and. has for itsfpbject a simple mounting for pre-, venting gear hopping, that is, the shifting out of mesh or walking out of the gear under the reaction of the gear, when in operation. In gear 5 shifting mechanisms, such as are used in the automotive field, the shiftable gear tends to shift out ofmesh, the usual poppets acting ,on' the shift rods to hold the gears in shifted posi; tion not .being sufficient under all conditionsjto hold the gears in mesh or prevent them from hopping or walking out. One especially bad sitnation is in the reverse spool with great gear re.-' duction andthe invention is shown as embodied in a reverse gear mechanism, although it is ap f plicable in any other shift or clutch gear ;as"-"" sembly. I

The ingention consists in the novel features. and in thecombinations and constructions hereinafter setiforth and claimed.

In describing this invention, reference is had; to the accompanying drawings, in which like characters designate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figuregl is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of a reverse gear idler embodying this in ventionandfcontiguous parts of a transmi e countershaft and the transmiss n;

r g gears thereon with which the gfe sf of the g spool are shiftable to producere-f verse speedbi Figurez is a sectional view taken on the plane of line 2'f2,? Figure 1.

The invention consists in a toothed element of a transmission mechanism shiftable intojand out of mesh with another alined toothedjele-i ment, which shiftable element is slidably men 5 ed on a shaft, the portion thereof on which he shiftablegelement is arranged, when in engaged positlon, ,being of slightly less diameter ,than that portion on which the shiftable element is', at least partly located, when out of engaged'position, thereby providing a minute annular shoulder between, the two shaft portions of different diameters; the portion of smaller diameterj permitting the shiftable element to move slightly in response to radial thrust and abut against the shoulderfi-yvhen engaged with the other eler'n t.

In the-illustrated embodiment of my in ntion, the shlftable element is shown as a"? shiftable into and out of mesh with another ge'ar.

I designates a shiftable gear, as, in the illustrated embodiment of the invention, the spool of a reverse gearing, this being mounted on a spindle or sleeve 2 and keyed at 3 thereto. The

OFFICE spindle or sleeve 2 is shown as mounted to rotate about 'a shaft or spindle 4. The spindle 4 is suitably mounted in a." support, as a bracket in the gearbox 5. Antifriction bearings i are interposed between the shaft or spindle 4 and the spindle or sleeve 2. The sleeve or spindle 2 abuts at its ends against the .en'd walls 50 of the bracket and box 5. The spindle may be any other form of shaft, smooth or splined. The shiftable gear is normally arranged out of mesh with companion gears 1 and 8 mounted on different shafts of the transmission, as the countershaft 9 and the transmission shaft. Thegears I and 8 thus mesh with the shiftable 'gear I, which is here illustrated as a spool i'gear, on the same side of the axis of the shiftablef gear or thrust radially in the same general direction to the axis of the spool 8. Thus, the gea iigl ool has a radial thrust thereon. In Figure 1; "the shiftable gear I is shown in shifted position. In its normal position, it is located to th iiight with the gear teeth IA and IB out of mesh respectively with the gears 'I and 8. H

In order to positively prevent the walking of the gear I out of mesh with the gears I and l, the portion of the spindle} occupied by the gear spool, when the gearjf p01 is in shifted position, is formed of slighjtly less diameter than the remaining portionand than the bore III of the shiftable gear, th'usiproviding an annular shoulder II against wh ch the end of the gear I around its bore abuts'when the shiftable gear is in shifted position, the radial thrust on the gear I tending to causefit to interlock against axial shift with the shoulder II. The shoulder I I is minute and the amount of radial movement is inconsequential, in so far as the rotation of the gear is concerned. ,The amount is, however, suflicient to provide an interlock to outward axial shifting of the gear spool under the load but to permit the outward axial shift when the load is released preliminary to again shifting out by the releasing of the engine clutch.

In most instances, it is necessary to provide against walking out inFone direction only by providing one shoulderR-but another shoulder may be provided to prevent walking out in opposite directions.

By this shiftable gear'mounting and the arrangement of the min -1p annular shoulder, prevention of walking out'iof the gear spool is accomplished without any additional parts or mechanism.

What I claim is:

1. A power transmission mechanism including a housing, an auxiliary shaft mounted in the housing, a sleeve rotatably mounted on the shaft, a gear slidably carried by the sleeve and keyed thereto to rotate therewith. the gear when in one position on the sleeve adapted to be in driving connection with another gear in the housing, the sleeve having one part of slightly smaller diameter than the other part thus providing a shoulder at the point of change from the smaller diametergto the larger diameter, the gear being on the smaller diameter part when in driving connection and when load is applied thereto is moved radially with respect to said sleeve so that the" gear will engage the shoulder and will be prevented from becoming disengaged ing connection.

2. A power transmission mechanism includin a housing, a shaft mounted'in the housing, a

from its drivgear slidable on and rotatable with respect to.

said shaft, the gear when in one position on the shaft adaptedto be in driving connection with another gear in"theh0li$ing. the shafthaving i ne part of slightly smaller diameter than the Luther part thus providing a shoulder at the point of change from the smaller diameter to the larger diameter, the gear being on the smaller diameter part when in driving connection and when load is applied thereto is moved radially with respect to said shaft so that the gear will engage the shoulder and will be prevented from becoming disengaged from its driving connection.

ROBERT E. BURKHALTER.

Germany 'Apr. 21,1941 

